Looking for Cancer Can Lead to Worsening Health

It has been often reported, sometimes even from mainstream media (MSM), that some procedures meant to determine malignant cancer actually exacerbate some precancerous situations, leading to actual cancer in the not too distant future.

The most suspicious suspects among those procedures are mammograms for breast cancer and surgical biopsy for prostate cancer based on high PSA test scores, which are also considered faulty.

Slowly, the awareness of mammograms actually inducing breast cancer are surfacing in published studies. Even the inventor of the prostate PSA test, Richard J. Ablin wrote a New York Times op-ed piece in 2010 claiming a positive PSA test doesn’t necessarily indicate cancer and it shouldn’t be used that way.

But those potentially adverse and/or inconclusive diagnostic consequences are outdone by partially or fully removing an important hormonal gland, the thyroid, to determine if ultrasound discovered nodules are malignant cancers or not.

The logic of ensuring nodules are not malignant is prudent, after all, this gland is in the throat, nearby lymph glands located in the neck, and not far from the brain.

But removing the thyroid gland partially or wholly to determine if thyroid nodules are cancerous or not is way over the top of the iatrogenic catastrophe list.

However, it guarantees Big Pharma and its controlled physicians for having a life long customer on prescribed synthetic thyroid hormones and follow up examinations.

Diagnostic Procedures Created this Thyroid Cancer Epidemic

In 2011, the international media jumped on the news that the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. That led to her thyroidectomy, which many assumed this was the surgical solution for her cancer.

Problem was, no cancer was found. Her thyroid gland was removed to confirm whether those tiny thyroid nodules were cancerous. Okay now, no cancer, but no thyroid either. Time to enjoy the side effects from pharmaceuticals for the rest of her life.

Statistics show thyroid cancer as the fastest growing cancer type today. The American Cancer Society reported almost 45,000 new cases in 2010. Mainstream medicine’s solution is to remove the thyroid after inconclusive tumor testing. But the vast majority of thyroidectomies are unnecessary.

Keith Heller, MD, a surgeon who has performed over 1,000 thyroid operations in 28 years, addressed a medical conference with this shocker:

I do not believe that this epidemic of (thyroid cancer) is real. It is due to …the increasing use of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of thyroid nodules. … We are performing far too many unnecessary thyroidectomies.

The Ultrasound Guided Needle Biopsy Conundrum

The ultrasound guided needled biopsy testing procedure created a dilemma. The tests were good at finding nodules in or on the thyroid, but were inconclusive regarding malignancy. Absolute certainty of malignancy is not determined until after the thyroid is partially or wholly removed.

In other words, the ultrasound guided needle biopsy is usually not conclusive about any small tumors or growths found in the thyroid gland. This has happened so often that some doctors say surgery should be avoided for microscopic papillary nodules under 5 mm in diameter. They urge a wait-and-see policy.

Even more adventurously, Dr.Yasuhiro Ito of Japan recommended avoiding aggressive surgery until the nodules reached 10 mm. He had studiously observed that very few nodules grew significantly from first observations.

Dr. Ito recommends the wait-and-see approach that a few have now adopted for PSA prostate testing.

It’s common that many die of causes unrelated to thyroid cancer with their tiny thyroid nodules intact. Those nodules tend to be benign or not immediately dangerous because they are so slow to spread or grow further even if cancerous.

In Finland, these tiny nodules are considered normal when discovered. So the Fins get to keep their thyroid glands until they die of other causes.

Dr. John Cronan claimed the practice of using ultrasound machines for detecting thyroid nodules makes patients cancer-phobic, then leaves them with lifelong dependency on thyroid medications after the thyroidectomy reveals there was no cancer.

Dr. Cronan added that this is done with little regard for the patient to “control a cancer with a 99% 10 year survival.” (Emphasis added)

Maybe the $15K to $20K cost for a thyroidectomy, not including other hospital fees, and the guarantee of a lifetime of medications and office visits has something to with this surgical surge.

Better Diagnostic Efforts and Natural Preventative Measures

Patient advocate and author of several books on thyroid and hormonal issues, Mary Shomon, thinks the latest extension of testing for thyroid cancer might eliminate a lot of unnecessary thyroid removals.

The Afirma Thyroid FNA Analysis extends the ultrasound guided FNA (Fine Needle Analysis) with a series of tests to confirm or rule out malignancy. Currently lab facilities are limited and many doctors may not know of his extended procedure. The procedure runs around $3500.

Holistic MD Dr. Jeffrey Dach (pronounced dash) recommends natural desiccated (dried) thyroid from pigs over the synthetic thyroid hormones used for patients who have had their thyroid glands removed.

This form contains both T3 and T4 hormones with some T1 and T2. Synthetic thyroid hormones usually contain only T3 or just T4. Even if both are contained, they tend to be less effective.

He doesn’t approve of mainstream oncology’s rush to surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy with for any cancers. A wise move could be to avoid mainstream medicine for thyroid and hormonal problems, especially hypothyroidism, except for testing perhaps. It’s possible to take those common thyroid issues under your own control.

A good start could be by reading Dr. Daches’ free ebooks, which you can download free here.